Morning Moments with God: Day 100!!!

                         
Day:100

Please read the Bible verses for today:

Matthew 23: 13-24

There are "Seven Woes," that run from verse 13, to the end of the chapter, verse 39. It is very long and heavy. I will just be reading the first few 'Woes' today. Woe as defined by Webster:  used to express grief, regret, or distress. Jesus is so saddened by what the teachers of the Law and Pharisees are doing that He gave a list of the things they were doing that caused the Father grief. 

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.[14] (Matthew 23:13-14) 

Woe 1:  The teachers of the Law and Pharisees do not believe that Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth and the Life- they do not believe Jesus is the Messiah and so in their teachings, they cannot offer salvation to the people. The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees will not be entering heaven and because they do not share the Good News of Salvation with the people, the people will not be going either! 

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:15)

Woe 2: From my understanding the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were not missionaries, going to the Gentile to convert to Judaism. They would convert a Jew to their sect of Judaism: Pharisee, Sadducee, etc. But as Jesus has said they themselves do not believe in the One person for salvation, Jesus, and so as they convert Jews into their order or sect of believing they are only making the new converts fit for hell. 

16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. (Matthew 23:16-22)

Woe 3: My Bible Commentary explains this perfectly. "The lax moralists of that time invented ways of evading the obligation of truthfulness, by saying hat certain forms of swearing were binding and others not. Thus an oath by the Temple or the altar might be broken without sin, but not an oath by the gold of the Temple or by the gift on the altar. Such refinements were e a direct encouragement to dishonesty and untruthfulness, and our Lord denounced them with terrible severity, declaring that a man's word or oath, in whatever words expressed, is absolutely binding. The lesson here taught is truthfulness and honesty in general, as well as the sanctity of oaths." I saw the deception in they way they were twisting their oaths but didn't realize the full lie that the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were teaching the people.

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." (Matthew 23:23-24)

Woe 4: The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees have obeyed the law and have taught others to do the same, yet they have not loved. They have done well with keeping the law, but they have not offered mercy and grace. I have met Christians with this same sin. They go to church, they lead Bible studies and lead ministries, and yet they forget to love as Jesus loves. They form cliques and keep the unwanted on the outside. They reject the people instead of making them an insider. They keep the people from joining in when they should be grafting them in and making them feel like family. I believe this makes God's heart sad too. 

Pray with me:

Father, if any of these 'woes' are found in me, I repent. Help me to follow your Word AND have mercy and grace for all. Help me, to be honest with my words. Help my yes, be yes, and my no, be no. Lord, I desire to be a light to this world. I desire to lead men and women and children into the Kingdom of God. Forgive me for the times I have been dishonest, unwelcoming, and a deterant to others to know you. Change me Lord to be more like you. In Jesus' Name, Amen.